MATT DENN MOWS ON

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

There would have been more drama if Matt Denn had
declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor a month
ago.

He had two opponents then. Before he could
concentrate on Charlie Copeland, the state Senate
minority leader who is the Republican candidate for
lieutenant governor, he had to go through Ted Blunt, the
Wilmington Council president who also wanted the
Democratic nomination.

Blunt is gone now. He folded his candidacy in
mid-May, erasing a primary in September, and gave Denn a
direct path to the general election in November.

No one should be surprised. Denn has a knack for
moving his rivals aside. He has motivated more
politicians into retirement than anything since the
establishment of the state legislature's generous
pension plan. It is still the champion.

When Denn set out to be elected insurance
commissioner in 2004, he expected to challenge Donna Lee
Williams, a three-term Republican, but she suddenly
heard the private sector calling. Dave Ennis, a
Republican legislator who ran instead, lost and
mothballed his political career. Now Blunt is out, too.

Denn obviously is someone with a sense of purpose
that gets attention. A Yale-educated lawyer, he
progressed methodically to be where he is -- from an
unsung office as the state Democrats' vice chair to a
line-of-fire post as counsel for Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to
insurance commissioner.

Republicans mutter about single-minded ambition. Denn
talks about dedication to the public good, particularly
on behalf of the state's children. Either way, or both,
he is known for sending e-mail at three in the morning.

Denn will need all his drive now. Copeland will not
cave the way the others did. He is a du Pont, he owns a
printing company, and the Republicans have hailed him as
the future of their party.

Furthermore, the race between these two
contemporaries -- Denn is 42, and Copeland is 45 -- is
not just a contest for lieutenant governor, a post
elected separately in Delaware. It also is expected to
generate a governor-in-waiting.

Both Denn and Copeland are nearing the end of
four-year terms. Whoever loses is out of office.

With the stakes so high, they already were whaling
away at each other Saturday as Denn declared for office
during the customary three-county tour, which took him
from Millsboro in Sussex County to Dover in Kent County
to New Castle in New Castle County.

Before Denn reached his second stop, Copeland had a
press release advancing his campaign's constant attack
on a do-nothing Dover and lumping Denn into it.
(Apparently no one was supposed to notice that Copeland
was elected to state government two years before Denn
was.)

"More of the status quo is the last thing taxpayers
need, but that is exactly what the Dover insiders are
offering. Once again, they are trying to trade one
office for another as if our state government is their
own personal carousel," Copeland said.

Denn had plenty to say, too. "My opponent has almost
unlimited funds, and he will use that money to flood our
state with negative campaign ads, but I'm not worried,"
he said. "We will walk right through that river of
half-truths and innuendos that is coming at us. We will
run and not be weary. In the end we will prevail."

Pugnacity seems to be in the family genes. As Denn
wrapped up his remarks in Dover, his three-year-old
twins Adam and Zach had a fistfight. It was their
father's favorite moment of the day.

Whatever happens to Denn in this election, he already
has made his mark. He is the first insurance
commissioner to elevate the office from a boring
backwater to the political forefront.

Denn was instrumental in galvanizing the Democrats'
ongoing assault to seize the majority in the state House
of Republicans by blaming the Republicans for stalling
legislation to create a pool for affordable health
insurance and denying his office the authority to
regulate health insurance rates, as it does home and
auto insurance.

Denn's announcement drew appearances from both Lt.
Gov. John Carney and Treasurer Jack Markell, the
Democratic rivals for governor. Denn is not aligned with
either one.

Carney said, "He's done a great job as insurance
commissioner, that's for sure. He's got a great focus. I
understand the office of lieutenant governor, and he
will be able to get things done. He has an incredible
persistence."

Markell was particularly impressed with the people,
two Republicans and one independent, who introduced Denn,
one at each stop. All of them had turned to Denn to sort
out nightmarish battles with insurance companies, and he
did -- without knowing anything about them except that
they needed help. In fact, his announcement tour was the
first time he met them in person.

"This is a guy who gets the job done, and he does it
because it's the right thing to do. He's elected to
serve, and that's what he does. He's got this thing
figured out. He'll make a great lieutenant governor,'
Markell said.

To say the political season was heating up was the
literal truth. The day was sweltering. Denn was on his
second shirt by his last stop in late afternoon before
about 50 very hot people crowded into the Old Courthouse
in New Castle.

It was a place Denn knew well. He announced his
candidacy there in 1996 against state Sen. Bob Connor, a
redoubtable Republican who was that rare opponent Denn
failed to send to early retirement. He lost.

Not that Denn minds now. The General Assembly has a
comfortable way of entombing its occupants. In fact, if
Copeland makes it to lieutenant governor, he will be the
first in recent politics to go from the legislature to
statewide office. In the last 10 years, all
newly-elected statewide officials -- Markell, Carney,
Denn and Democratic Attorney General Beau Biden -- went
there directly.